The Smithsonian opened registration Wednesday to attend a special lecture held by famed game designer Hideo Kojima. This conversation with Kojima will take place on the second day of the Smithsonian’s Game Fest, a three day festival kicking off the museum’s new The Art of Video Games exhibit. Game Fest begins Friday, March 16 in Washington DC.

If there ever was hesitation around attending this event, the Smithsonian seeks to dispel not only with the confirmation of Kojima but also with the price of attendance — free.

Slim pickins’. That’s all I got to say about this week’s new offerings from Nintendo. But you know what they say, “One man’s slim pickins’ is another man’s DLC GOTY.” Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s how the saying goes.

2011 isn’t the greatest year on record for Nintendo news, but the year isn’t over with yet! Nintendo Everything is reporting that the new and improved Club Nintendo will offer something the original storefront was severely lacking: digital downloads. These downloads won’t break your virtual bank either – they’re reasonably priced at around ~100-150 coins per item (roughly 2-3 retail game redemptions).

The first reported offering consists of Fluidity (150 points), Super Mario Kart (100 points), 3D Classics: Xevious (100 points), and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! (150 points). Thankfully, these games will be cycled out in quick succession for new ones on January 10th – could it be that Nintendo is finally making that big push for online infrastructure? Stay tuned in 2012 to find out, as the Wii-U will be the Big N’s biggest online test yet.

If you have a few Nintendo product codes lying around, make sure you create a free Club Nintendo account and register them!

Worried that the looming specter of the Wii U is staged to make your favorite paper weight even more useless? Well, Reggie Fils-Aime is hear to quash all your fears, give you a pat on the head and lull you to sleep in those giant meaty arms of his. The Nintendo of America executive believes there’s plenty of room in the closet for both consoles.

“The consumer buying Wii hardware today is going to be a different consumer than the one who will be buying Wii U in the future,” said the beefburger boss. ”This is the first holiday that the Wii is available at $149.99 or below, so it’s an expanded demographic we’re reaching.

“We haven’t announced pricing for Wii U, but you can definitely expect that pricing is going to be different and that the games are going to be different,” added the tenderloin tycoon “We do believe that Wii and Wii U will coexist for some time. As we drive the install base of Wii, we’re really setting people up to take their gaming library and be able to transfer it over to Wii U.”

When asked about what will keep the Wii afloat heading into the future, the pastrami president touted Nintendo’s WiiWare and Virtual Console services and their weekly updates — funnily enough purchases that will likely not be making the transfer over to the Wii U thanks to Nintendo’s brilliant online program. See, there is a reason to keep the Wii around after all. And besides, with no Wii U GCN support, you’re going to want to keep that Wii around to play P.N.03 anyway.

In its heyday, the JRPG was one of the the most well loved, paradigmatic experiences in the entire medium of videogames. Unfortunately, all empires must eventually fall and the the tale of the JRPG has been one of stagnation and decline. Rapid technological improvements brought many eastern studios into an uphill battle, where all too often gameplay suffered at the expense of modern graphics.

We are left with an aging genre where stories are often absurd and incomprehensible, combat is frustrating and needlessly complicated, and high-definition visuals are prioritized above all else. Luckily, Xenoblade Chronicles proves to be a rare exception.

While attention has shifted from gamescom to PAX Prime without us even thinking about it, there is a summit that will fly mostly under the radar this year — Cloud Gaming USA. Just after we’ve gone home with our swag bags and hangovers, this event will take place in San Jose, Calif. September 7 – 8.

Industry professionals will fill a conference hall adjacent to Silicon Valley in efforts to shape the future of how we play games. Most likely, the future won’t look like the above picture. Albeit, a look at the attendees may provide insight as to why we should pay attention.

Xenoblade Chronicles landed on European shores last week, and so far it looks like the Wii RPG is performing pretty well at retail. The highly anticipated title is currently charting at number seven for entertainment software sales in the United Kingdom.

On the Wii-specific chartsXenoblade is second only to the ever-popular Zumba Fitness, which has enjoyed ten straight weeks in the top spot. Well that’s certainly exciting news. But if you’re still on the fence, our official review is on its way.

It’s official. All three titles under the banner of fan-campaign Operation Rainfall are being localized for Western release. Nintendo of Europe just released their Autumn/Winter software line-up, which includes The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower. Both titles will be joining the European Wii library sometime next year.

If you want a reason to turn on your Wii this year Monolith Soft’s acclaimed Xenoblade Chronicles is landing in European stores this week. Nintendo of America may want to keep you from playing great Japanese Wii games, but now that there are English translations in the works, that likely won’t deter ardent American Wii owners.

If you’re keen to actually play something on your Wii for a change and happen to live in Europe, then you’re in luck this week. The highly anticipated Xenoblade Chronicles is launching in Europe this Friday, August 19th. If playing with a Wii remote and Nunchuk isn’t exactly your thing, the title is also coming bundled with a red Classic Controller Pro. If you’d like more information on the well-received Wii RPG, Nintendo has launched a full website for the title in addition to the trailer seen above.

Nintendo of America is keeping a close eye on how this one does at retail in Europe, so hopefully people actually buy the thing. It’s not like there’s anything else coming out for the system any time soon.

Nintendo of America has just confirmed release dates for two of the most exciting 3DS releases of the year. Players will be able to take to the skies in a new Tanooki suit for the first time in twenty years on November 13 in Super Mario 3D Land. Just in time for the holidays, Mario Kart 7 will be releasing a few short weeks later on December 4.

It looks like things are looking up for Nintendo’s portable with Luigi’s Mansion 2 and Kid Icarus: Uprising, and Star Fox 64 3Din the pipeline. The recent price cut and this strong first-party holiday line up surely will help. Now hopefully third parties are willing to do their part. What upcoming 3DS title are you most excited for?

[Update: Target has followed Walmart's lead and begun selling the 3DS at $170 early.]

Stop what you’re doing, go to Walmart and buy a 3DS. While Nintendo’s portable console will be receiving an official $80 price cut this Friday, Walmart has jumped the gun and started selling them for $170 early. Apparently, the evil big box isn’t only keen on killing off small businesses in your town, but beating its competitors to the punch.

Fearing the wrath of scorned early adopters, Nintendo is offering 20 free downloadable games to 3DS owners who connect to the eShop by August 12th. So if you’re planning on picking a 3DS up anyway, why not do it before Friday at the attractive new price point and nab yourself 10 free Gameboy Advance titles in addition to 10 free NES ones?

From cult hits like Grasshopper Manufacture’s No More Heroesto first-party million sellers, the Wii has amassed a large library of superb titles over the past five years. Unfortunately, that long list of great games no longer seems to be growing. In the past few months the Wii has stagnated, showing little sign of impressive software heading toward the launch of the Wii U. Luckily, Gamer Limit has dug up a dozen great-looking Wii titles that have yet to see releases in the United States.

Join us after the break for a naïve wish list of games that will probably never see US releases, but could help the Wii go out in a bang rather than die with a lonely whimper. Read more… »